Off-Limits Cowboy

Brothers of Lucky Seven Ranch #1

by Kristine W. Joy

He’s a grumpy cowboy and a single dad. He’s also my overprotective brother’s best friend... and when I agreed to stay at his ranch, falling for him was never in the plan.

While standing in the barn, I feel myself drawing closer to him, willingly closing what little space is between us.

The chemistry is palpable. Sparks are exploding.

My brother is going to kill us.

But I can’t bring myself to pull away.

Seeing him, I’ve managed to forget the heartbreak from my divorce.

In my head, I know pursuing anything beyond a friendship with him is asking for trouble.

I came here to get back on my feet...

But in my heart, I secretly hope he sweeps me off ‘em.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Westerns, Clean Romance, Cowboy Romance, Small Town Romance, Closed Door Romance

323 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2023

About the author

Kristine W. Joy is an Amazon Bestselling Author who loves creating sweet and swoony stories full of sizzling chemistry and laugh-out-loud banter. She prefers her coffee iced and her kisses hot. When she's not dreaming up romance novels or writing from a cozy coffee shop in Northern California, she is spending time with her hubby and two young sons. Becoming a published author was a lifelong dream. Becoming a momma was the inspiration to make it a reality.

To stay updated on all upcoming releases, subscribe to her newsletter.

Reviews

[Beatrice]

dnf at 30%
the writing was bad and the dialogues were forced

[Alaina]

Honestly, I dove into this because it worked for so many challenges... but I was kind of bored. The characters were okay in the end but they both annoyed me for most of this book. It's a good thing this was on audible... because I would've needed wine to get through the ebook. Not sure I'll jump in to the next book of this series... unless it works for a lot of reading challenges.

[Savannah]

the plot and concept of this book was great. but the dialogue was extremely forced and the writing was horrible; therefore, 2 stars.

[SarahLooHoo]

Not my style. Kinda felt like the book started in the middle of a story i missed out on???

[Hayley]

She's a pick-me and he's a manchild, and by the end you are still wondering if they like each other.

[Durch.Welten.Und.Zeilen]

Ich bin leider wirklich enttäuscht.
Zuerst gibt es irgendwie keine richtige Handlung. Die ganze Geschichte fließt so träge vor sich hin.
Aber am schlimmsten fand ich das Pairing. Die beiden hatten genau einen Kuss bevor die Ganze Sache auch schon phänomenal schief ging. Nicht nur das er absolut übertrieben und toxisch reagiert hat (er schreit sie an, wirf Sachen auf den Boden und wirft sie aus der Wohnung raus), er war dabei auch absolut feige für Emma oder seine Gefühle einzustehen. Und sobald er dann wieder ein nettes Wort an sie richtet, macht sich sofort wieder Hoffnung in ihr breit das er es ja vielleicht doch ernst meinen könnte. Und dann kommt nach 2 Monaten die Hochzeit...
Das einzige was ich wirklich toll fand war Ava. Die kleine war wirklich bezaubernt.

[Ilyssa Tillotson]

You know when a book is bad but you kinda wanna see what the author will do next?

[Rachel Luke Parker]

This was the first book I've read from Kristine and I cannot wait to finish this series!

I absolutely loved grumpy Carson. He is such a great father and I loved seeing him interact with his daughter Ava. I loved how much is just adored Emma too and how we were able to see how much he cared about her.

I loved Emma for how sweet she was not only with Ava but also with Carson. I loved how she wanted to take care of him and make him smile.

I loved the tension between the two and the element of forbidden romance since Emma was Carson's best friends sister.

This was a book that once I started I could not stop reading. I loved every minute!

Physical Intimacy Lvl 2.5ish (Deeper Kisses, descriptive kisses with mention of tongue)
Zero Swearing
Dual POV
Best Friends Brother
Forbidden Romance
Love after Divorce
Single Dad

[Alora]

I didnt like this book. It was so short and rushed. I feel like we were missing so many character details. World building wasnt good.
Also, I get the "forbiddon romance" / "brothers best friend" tropes, but these grown ass adults were behaving like middle schoolers with their rules. Like seriously?? Communicate and get over yourselves, let people live their lives.

[Daniela French]

2.5 it was cute, but I felt like it started in the middle of the story! ❤️

[Modern Miss Granger]

A delightful cowboy romance that I didn’t want to put down!

[Paige]

dnf

[Angelina Justice]

4 stars for me! It was a cute and fast read! I loved the love story that unfolded and I was all for the cowboy vibes!

[Melanie]

This was cute and fun but I felt there could have been more drama to keep the couple distracted. The first 1/2 of the book seemed to be nothing but them.

[Brit’s Bookstagram]

This was such a fun read and a great start for this new series! Life isn’t perfect and things may not work out the way you expect but you can’t let that stop you from living. This book deals with real issues but there is also a lot of laughter. Will Carson and Emma get their second chance at love?


I received an ARC copy from the author. All thoughts in this review are my own.

[Kristin R]

Was the writing the best? No. Were the vibes immaculate? Yes, 100%

[Krystle Krystlesbookclub]

It's ok, it was free on Audible. An off limits love interest from a best friend/brothers instructions. It's cute amd sweet but not that deep.

[Sarah Hope]

Around 24% on this story, I bailed, having not noticed that FMC Emma is newly divorced; the details of her marriage dissolving aren't messy or anything, just too much for my newly-wed heart to handle. I also don't super love the "sibling's friend" trope so I might jump into the second book Accidentally My Cowboy and see where that leads.

[Loretta Marchize]

I have never wanted to face palm more than while reading this book. There was a nice bit of tension at the end there, but entirely unrealistic characterization for the male MC. He was annoying at the height of the plot and unbelievably 'softened by the end.
Also side note I wish authors would spend more time with children. I don't care how long she has lived there, NO seven year old of saddeling a horse on her own, LET ALONE doing it for someone else?????

[Jessica SPONAGLE]

Your typical brothers best friend, “ I can’t ruin the friendship” girl gets feelings hurt boy realizes he was stupid.

Also the fake western accent for the characters was cringy and only the female narrator did it????

No character build… just such a bland story

[Jessica Threadgold]

I usually love a cowboy romance but this one just didn’t do it for it. Both main characters are annoying, the relationship… can you even call it a relationship? was just sudden and didnt make much sense. The over protective brother did my head in. I was gutted I didnt enjoy this one and it sounded really good!

[Emily Byrd]

The dialogue was cringey, the MMC acted like he was in middle school with his ridiculous behavior over the FMC’s brother and his “rule” about her.

The writing wasn’t great either. I finished this for a traveling book club and don’t even want to see what her other books are like. 🫠

[Julie]

I didn't find the premise of this book very believable and rolled my eyes countless times throughout it. I've read other books by this author and enjoyed them, but this is definitely not one I would recommend.

[Madison Murphy]

The start of this book felt off. It felt like I was missing the beginning of the book and that we started somewhere in the middle? The characters were a bit immature and I struggled a bit to finish the story. It was a short read, but I don’t think I would read it again.

[Peyton (Taylor’s version)]

I hated this

[Tatum - nuggetybooks]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What I loved:
- childhood friends/teenage crushes
- Best friend’s sister
- Forced proximity
- Grump & Sunshine
- Single dad
- Dual POV
- Small town Texas
- Cowboy, tough, stubborn MMC
- Sassy, funny, strong willed FMC
- Living on a ranch
- Everything about the ER 😂🫠
- Riding horses together
- Ava spilling all her dad’s secrets 🤭🫠
- Their first kiss 😍
- Forbidden by brother 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️
- Their “treasure” 🥹


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I could not put this book down. I was hooked from the very first page of this book and I absolutely I had to make sure Carson and Emma got their happily ever after 😍

Carson’s gruff / stubborn exterior did not stop Emma from calling him out and pushing him when he definitely needed pushing. 🤭💕This book is more real life romance than everything goes perfectly, which I appreciated. The MCs struggle to voice how the actually feel and often put their foot in their mouth, especially Carson. Throughout the book you can see the deep bond that’s always been there but was overlooked or discredited because of Emma’s brothers stupid rule 🙄 I loved that they are both spitfires and so neither one gets trampled. They fight for each other and the love the come to realize has always been there 💕 there is some suspense there at the end that got my heart racing and I SPED through the last bit of the book. Everything ends in a happy ending but oh my gosh if my heart wasn’t racing 😅🥴

I absolutely loved this book and I can’t wait to read the other brothers’ book, especially Hunters. My Annah Conwell girlies will love Hunter. He’s very similar to Grayson 😂😉 but a cowboy.

This is a clean romcom with some passionate kissing. There is no cursing.

Songs:
“Cowboys and Angels” by Dustin Lynch,
“Never Really Over” by Katy Perry
“Love You Like I Used To” by Russell Dickerson
“Mercy” by Brett Young
“In Case You Didn’t Know” by Brett Young,“Who I Am With You” by Chris Young, “Hard to Love” by Lee Brice,
“When She Says Baby” by Jason Aldean

[Sierra]

Reader’s Notes:

– this is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone

– this is told from Carson & Emma’s points of view

Review:

I couldn’t put this story down! It was such a sweet romance between Carson & Emma, and I loved how everyone was with Ava! I loved that Carson was so loyal to his friend and wanted him to know about them before they really pursued anything. I loved Emma’s want to help out wherever she could, especially since Carson really wouldn’t let her even though he had been injured. I loved that Ava got so excited to hangout with Emma and do girly things with her. I loved that Carson’s brother, Hunter, was almost constantly poking fun at people and trying to break tension in small ways. Some more of my favorite scenes/moments were: Ava & Emma horseback riding, the opening scene, the brotherly messing around (on both characters), when they would think back on their pasts together, the epilogue, and the rescue. I’ve very curious to see who else will be getting a story and if any of them will include Emma’s best friend and/or Wyatt (her brother)!

Summary:

Carson knows that nothing could ever happen with his best friend’s little sister. But when Emma comes back into his world, he is turned upside down – literally. Emma grew to be so much more beautiful than he remembered and she cares for him much more than anyone has cared for him, besides his family. Especially after his injury results in an increase in his grumpy demeanor. The last straw is seeing how well Emma gets along with his daughter, Ava, who has had no interest in any of the women that have been around besides his mother. Carson finds himself falling for the one woman he could never consider for fear of losing his best friend. It could never work, right?

Emma is back home to get back on her feet after her marriage ended in divorce. She didn’t go looking for another romance, but Emma just can’t get her brother’s best friend out of her head. It doesn’t help that he is so good with his adorable daughter. With hope of finally getting the family she’d always hoped for, Emma is ready to pursue a relationship with Carson…if only her brother would get out of the way…

[Katie]

What I read: Off-Limits Cowboy by Kristine W. Joy

Why I picked it up: Another author recommended it in her newsletter – or she recommended the second and I have a hard time reading the 2nd in a series so I started with the first – about to begin the second.

How I read it: On Kindle Unlimited.

What it’s about: Emma moves back home now that her divorce is finalized and ends up living at her brother’s best friend’s ranch. Only problem is her brother has expressly forbidden anything from happening between the two of them – but that started when she was just a teenager, surely he doesn’t feel the same way now that they’re almost 30 – except he does. So there’s a kiss pretty early on, feelings expressed – then a LOT of book about how Wyatt will react and what they should do about it and if they’ll just give up because they don’t want to make him mad.

What I liked: I really liked Ava, Carson’s daughter – and she’s what made this a 4 star book over a 3 star book.

What I disliked: The conflict with the brother felt like terrible teen angst slash stupid sibling rivalry. How do you know what’s best for your sister when you won’t even speak to her about it? You preventing him from being with her so she doesn’t get hurt is just hurting her now, so stop!

Genre: Small town, second chance, sibling drama, closed door.

Rating & Recommendation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and sure, I’m going to keep reading the series about the other brothers, so it’s not that awful.

[Chelsea✨]

ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ✨✨✨

ꜱᴘɪᴄᴇ ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ: 🚫

ᴘᴀɢᴇꜱ: 331

ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ:
He’s a grumpy cowboy and a single dad. He’s also my overprotective brother’s best friend... and when I agreed to stay at his ranch, falling for him was never in the plan.

ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ:
Now I had extremely high expectations from this book based on other reviews I had seen and was quite disappointed with it.

Now the parts I liked, they didn’t gloss over the cowboy part of cowboy books as some I have read before, as a horse rider myself I was not disappointed with the accuracy of how the horses acted (I’m looking at you Thunder and Brownie).
I loved little Ava and her ‘I have everyone wrapped around my fingers attitude’
I was quite happy with how fast paced this book was.

The parts I didn’t like, I found Emma to be quite 50/50 in some chapters I loved her and her whit, other times she made me feel like if I met her in person it would be onsite🥊. I don’t like how she kept wish washing between “oh I hate Carson” and “oh I love him” like pick a side a stick to it, she tended to ignore how he felt and it seemed like she was a bit self absorbed.

Carson, I loved you but man did you need therapy…possibly church, I wish the delved more into his relationship with Ava and her non existent mum. I wish we saw more of his so called friendship with the asshat Wyatt.

[Manee Contreras]

Romance level: kissing 🔥.

This is the start of a new series for Kristine and I am so excited!!! The chemistry between those two was there from the start.

I loved the first few lines😂. It was so funny. He was so grumpy at the beginning 😅 like a lion with a torn in his paw. He was aloof sometimes, but I liked how he got softer around Emma.

The brother's best friend plot was interesting. It felt familiar but at the same time was so good & unique!

Poor Carson, but he needed to figure out what he wanted.

I wish I could tell more, but I don't want to spoil anything. I want to let you enjoy the twists & turns when you read it.

What I can say is that I loved the horse search & rides 🐎. THE Horse Search was such a key point in the story. It took me a minute to digest what happened & how it did, but after that, it was so cute.

These two were just so sweet. I loved how they were with each other and also with Ava. She was so wise for her age!

I can't wait for what's to come! Excited to see if we get Wyatt & the Lewis's brothers. Give us the cowboys!🤠

⚠️TW: divorce; cheating (not MC); neglecting parent/partner.

🐎
* I was kindly gifted an ARC from the author. This doesn't influence in any form my review/opinion of the book*